Annica Canning
Annica Caroline Canning, born 1st july 3849 in Adlerberg in Holy Luthori Empire, dead 19th May 3933, was a liberal politician and entrepreneur for the Liberal Alliance. Background Born in a lower middle class family in Adlerberg, Canning was early influenced by the business feeling in the city. She started her first business as a 14 year old teenager, selling cosmetics on the internet. Her father was a accountant and her mother a language teacher, and she was the only child. When 15 she engaged in the party Liberal Alliance, as many other youngsters in Adlerberg. She soon was known for her political intensity and entrepreneurship. And after military service, a year in the navy, she studied business in Williamsborough. Politics When 22 years old, she was elected Vice Chairman of the Social Liberal Youth, and tried to get rid of the word "social" in the organization's name. She soon succeeded, together with the Chairman Josephine Ribbing, who is a good friend of her and a colleague. During her years as Vice Chairman the Youth Wing flourished, which could'nt be said about the main party which struggled under Philip Warden's social liberal and highly ecological centre politics. For two years Canning worked for Warden as a cabinet secretary, though keeping her small business apart from her full-time job. When 25 years old, she made it into Parliament and during that year she was remarkable in debates, making several good blows against other parties. Minister and Partyleader Partyleader Philip Warden was known for his harsh and tactical methods, so when he appointed Canning as one of four ministers from Liberal Alliance, he did that thinking only that she was young and promising. What he did'nt know was that she was'nt social liberal at all. She had held a low profile in her favourite issues during the years in parliament. Aged 26 she was made Minister of Education and Culture in the right wing cabinet. After the unlucky election of 3878 the Partyleader election of Liberal Alliance 3879 was held, where she came second. And in the cabinet rearrangement in 3880 she was made Minister of Infrastructure and Transport. Before that, she had been made partyleader after a disastrous election, and the social liberal agenda was replaced by a more right-wing oriented liberalism. She won a great victory on the session against the social liberal candidate James Pomp, while both Louice Silvershield and Josephine Ribbing had refused to race against her. This making her the most voted partyleader ever in the annual session of Liberal Alliance. When the Socialist party and the Independence party created a cabinet coalition in 3881, the liberal ministers were forced away from the cabinet. The Royal House issue During Canning's first period as partyleader, the issue concerning the legitimacy of the ruling Royal House was raised. HRH Prince Randolph, the Duke of Adlerberg, summoned her to analyze the constitutional possibilities to reintroduce the House of Orange-Villayn. And while the original family is gone the House of Adlerberg is the only remaining branch. A referendum was held 3881, installing the Prince as the new Emperor. The issue was solved when the House of Adlerberg enthroned in 3881. Canning was one of the most primary reformers in this issue. However the old house was exiled and taken away all their titles. First election Annica Canning's first General Election was in 3884 and was indeed a great success for her, ending as party number five but gaining 14 mandates and over 10% of the legislature. This made Liberal Alliance one of the winners of the election. Canning was priced on the newspapers all of the country for her efforts in the Royal House issue. Even if the LA gained mandates in the 3884 election, any new Cabinet was'nt formed, so the party prepared for another four years in opposition. During these years, Canning was the most active opposition politician and very keen on taking down the current cabinet. She reintroduced the "A better Luthori" bills, which had been forgotten since the days of former partyleader Denise Silverhielm who was angered by this. She meant that the title stood for a past, conservative, propaganda approach. Canning denied this and continued as planned. Second election Canning was raised to the skies after the 3888 election where the Liberal Alliance gained 29 mandates and recieved over 19% of all the votes which meant the best election result for nearly fifty years. After the election she tried to create a coalition cabinet. Canning tried for a long time to create a stable coalition cabinet but many parties kept beeing passive and occupied with internal arguments. After the 3888 election, the Liberal Alliance moved into a more libertarian sphere when continuing with the "A better Luthori" bills which meant deregulation in different areas such as the energy market. Even the election after this, the 3892 election failed to create stable alliances. However the LA continued increasing their seats and was able to gain nearly 20% of the legislature. This was much seen as another personal victory for Canning. However after a while a right-wing coalition with support from the Social Democrats was installed with Canning as leader. Head of Government In 3892 Annica Canning was the first Liberal Alliance partyleader to become Head of Government since the days of Rudolf Bultmann. She created a stabile coalition of conservative and social democratic parties, leaving the Royalists and Hosian parties outside. She got off well when GDP increased and the stock market went up. She was seen as highly responsible by the society and she did well in confidence polls. She managed her Cabinet very well during the mandate period. Due to the abscence of the Royalist and Carlist Party a new election was needed to get rid of the Royal House issue. After this election, where LA gained one mandate, the largest party wanted them in their cabinet. Canning stepped down as Head of Government to maintain stability, she needed the HSP support in the Royal House issue. After the election she was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. Minister of Foreign Affairs After the 3893 election Canning was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and remainad in that office for many years. She embraced a pro-monarchistic foreign policy and toured the world to announce the new legitimare monarch of the Holy Luthori Empire, Randolph I, has been restored. When the 3901 election came closer, she announced that she would step down as partyleader after the election, but remain in the Cabinet if possible. At this time Canning was enormously popular, both in public and in her party. She was seen as the most succesful politician since Edith Gripenwald at the beginning of the century. Canning was, with her 25 years as Minister and HoG extremely experienced and was credited when discussing the econmical boom in Luthori. Somewhat surprisingly Canning stepped down in 3900 as partyleader. It's generally seen as she feared a bad election in 3901 and wanted to quit while still on top. After the disastrous election of 3905 she retired from politics entirely trying to avoid any blame from the rest of the party. Aftermath The nation after Canning continued in a right-wing passage, however her successor Ewald Gripenstedt did'nt manage to lift the party up to largest party position and failed entirely in the 3905 election. Both the party members and citizens refers to the Canning years as to "the good years". Her time as minister and Chancellor are spotless. However, she is seen as responsible for the direction the party took under Gripenstedt because of her fascination of his qualities. His politics and policies took the party too close the Business and once again, the voters punished this orientation. After many years of total isolation from the political world, many old partyleaders had tried to afflict party politics even after their resignment, she broke her isolation just a month before she died. She held a speech at the Annual Session inn March 3933. She lifted the newly retired partyleader James Burlington to the skies, not even mentioning the current partyleader Vanja Glossop by name. One month later, she died peacefully in her home, aged 84. Ideology Even if Canning was brought up politcally by the libertarians in the Liberal Youth Wing, she has'nt been famous for an extreme libertarian policy as partyleader, but rather a liberty-oriented liberalism. She is placed by many experts in the border territories between the libertarian and the classical liberal factions in the Liberal Alliance. Category:Luthorian politicians